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T.A.T. Communications Company
''Logo descriptions by Matt Anscher, Jeffrey Gray, Shadeed A. Kelly and Logophile'' ''Logo captures by Eric S., Shadeed A. Kelly, V of Doom, megamanj2004, snelfu, Sagan Blob, and Fabeza'' ''Editions by Eric S., Shadeed A. Kelly, V of Doom, Unnepad'' ''Video capture by Pepsi9072'' Background: The T.A.T. Communications Company (also spelled simply as "TAT") was formed in 1974 by Norman Lear and comedian Jerry Perenchio, a year before Bud Yorkin ended his partnership with Lear, which produced The Jeffersons and One Day at a Time among others. In 1976, T.A.T. formed its own distribution division. On January 6, 1982, T.A.T. Communications Company was reincorporated as "Embassy Communications, Inc." and renamed the T.A.T. production division as "Embassy Television" (now ELP Communications) with the acquisition of Avco Embassy Pictures Corporation by Lear and Perenchio, while the distribution division of this company was renamed "Embassy Telecommunications". T.A.T. stood for a Yiddish phrase pronounced "Tuchus Affen Tisch", which meant "Putting one's butt on the line". Currently, both T.A.T. Communications Company and ELP Communications serve as in-name only units of Sony Pictures Television. 1st Logo (January 19, 1975-October 3, 1982) Logo: Depending on the show, it would just say: A T.A.T. COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY PRODUCTION or A T.A.T. COMMUNICATIONS CO. PRODUCTION But on certain shows like The Jeffersons, One Day at a Time, and Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, it would read: A (NORMAN LEAR) T.A.T. COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY (PRODUCTION) (AND) or (IN ASSOCIATION WITH) OF THE COMPANY Variants: *Some series would feature a copyright stamp below the text, such as on later S1 episodes of Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman. *Some in-credit texts would appear in shadow mode in 1979. *On The Facts of Life episode "The Affair", the text is centered at the bottom. *On some shows like Fernwood 2nite and the final season of Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman (a.k.a. Forever Fernwood), this text was also used following the "standard" T.A.T. text: WORLD WIDE DISTRIBUTION BY T.A.T. COMMUNICATIONS CO. *On early syndie broadcasts of Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, this text over a blue background was used to plaster the "standard" text: A T.A.T. COMMUNICATIONS PRODUCTION WORLDWIDE----DISTRIBUTION BY *On early season 2 episodes of Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, the text says: PRODUCED BY T.A.T. COMMUNICATIONS CO. AND PRESENTED IN ASSOCIATION WITH FILMWAYS, INC. FX/SFX: The scrolling of the credits or superimposed. On Fernwood 2Nite, the text fades. Music/Sounds: The closing theme from specific show. Availability: Uncommon. It appears on seasons 1-3 of The Facts of Life on Me-TV and One Day at a Time on FETV. Also seen on DVD releases of One Day at a Time, The Jeffersons, The Facts of Life, and Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman. TV One prints of The Jeffersons omit this logo, cutting straight to the SPT logo after either the "Videotaped at Television City", "Videotaped at Metromedia Square", or T.A.T. copyright notice, although two episodes (one of them being the series premiere, "A Friend in Need") have it intact. (This has also happened to the Embassy Television in-credit logo on 1982-83 episodes.) This also can be seen at the beginning of the 1978 film Blue Collar, after the 1975 Universal Pictures logo. Also seen on other, shorter-lived shows like Joe's World and the infamous Hello, Larry. Editor's Note: None. 2nd Logo (September 17, 1979-September 20, 1982) Note: The above captures are from a partial recording of the logo before it was cut out and plastered by the 1980-1981 CBS ID. A recording of the logo's jingle, as described below, can be heard here. Nicknames: "The T.A.T. Star", "Cheesy Star", "The Infamous Star" Logo: An orange screen first appears. The screen then starts to zoom out to reveal that it's a Scanimated star, as it reveals a black background with the text "TAT" in lined letters and "'C'OMMUNICATIONS COMPANY" in white. It's currently unknown what the rest of the logo is, as the video gets cut off near the end. FX/SFX: The Scanimated star descending onto the background. Music/Sounds: A 12-note synth theme that was composed by associate producer John Maxwell Anderson. Availability: Extinct. 15 years of searching have yielded only a partial recording. *It was only seen on original daytime CBS reruns of One Day at a Time and The Jeffersons and CBS Late Movie airings of Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman. It has been said that it appeared on a few broadcasts of the show on TV Land in 2002 during the Norman Lear Marathon and in 1994 on reruns of The Jeffersons on WGN-TV. *VHS releases of Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman were rumored to have it, but it has been confirmed it's not on them. *A partial clip of the logo before it was cut out by a CBS ID was finally spotted on the October 21, 1980 rerun of a 1975 episode of One Day at a Time. *A very faint segment of the tune before it was cut out by the Columbia TriStar Television Distribution "Boxes of Boredom" logo had also been spotted on another episode of One Day at a Time that originally aired on December 9, 1979. *This logo has been plastered starting in the Embassy Telecommunications days. As of now, it is unknown if the full logo will ever surface. Editor's Note: This is perhaps the rarest logo on this wiki, and as a result of its rarity it is one of the most popular/infamous logos on here. Category:Embassy Television Category:Sony Pictures Television Category:Sony Corporation Category:Television syndication distributors Category:Television production companies in the United States Category:Defunct television production companies Category:Defunct Category:Sony Pictures Entertainment Category:Rare logos